It’s your choice…
As suggested, most of the common over-the-counter medical products designed to deal with airsickness do have potentially unpleasant or even dangerous side-effects. Hence, you need to carefully weigh up the possibility of suffering these side effects before deciding whether taking drugs to calm your airsickness is for you or not.
Before doing so, it makes sense to consider the things that you can do to reduce the chances of suffering airsickness without resorting to chemical-based pharmaceutical drugs.
Tips for avoiding airsickness…
There are plenty of things that you can do that will help to reduce the chances that you are going to suffer airsickness the next time you fly. However, it is important to note that whilst a few of these tips and ideas only become ‘operational’ after you board the plane, others need some forward planning.
For example, for two or three days before the flight, avoid eating and drinking the wrong things, and try to avoid overindulging as well. Do not eat very spicy, heavy or overly-fatty foods or foods that you know from past experience do not agree with you. Don’t drink too much alcohol either because you can guarantee that suffering a raging hangover whilst flying is not going to help with trying to avoid airsickness.
And of course, when you are actually flying (especially if you’re flying long-distance and will therefore be on the plane for several meals) the same rules should apply.
Avoid spicy foods, foods that are too fatty and don’t fall for the temptation of eating everything that is placed in front of you because of boredom. Do so and you are likely to feel overfull and bloated which again is not likely to make you feel a great deal better.
In fact, on shorter journeys, it is best to eat nothing at all if possible, although eating small amounts of dried foodstuffs like biscuits or crackers might help as they do tend to dry your mouth out. Whilst on the flight, try to avoid dairy produce (because of the protein and fat content) as well as vegetables and fruits because they may make your stomach unnecessarily acid.
Some studies have indicated that foods which contain too much salt may exacerbate airsickness as does food which is too rich in vitamin B1 such as pork, beef, eggs and fish. It also appears that if your levels of vitamins A and C plus iron are too low, this might make you more prone to airsickness as well (especially women).
Also, don’t fall prey to drinking too much just because it does not cost you anything to do so. Whilst there might not be a cost in monetary terms, there could certainly be a cost in terms of sickness if you overindulge.
Even foods that you know are likely to have a strong smell should probably be avoided whilst in-flight because a strong smell is often enough to turn your stomach queasy. Do not wear strong cologne or perfume for the same reason and if you are travelling with a companion, ask them not to refrain as well if possible.
When you are booking your ticket or checking in, try to choose a seat where there is likely to be the least motion. Generally speaking, this will be the middle of the plane in the area of the wings, so if you can get a seat here, it is likely to offer the least disturbed ride.
Also, if you are flying during daylight hours, it can sometimes help to have a window seat as well. By doing so, you have the ability to focus on the horizon out of the window which might help by minimizing your spatial disorientation.
Avoid reading on the flight if you are prone to airsickness because as anyone who has ever suffered motion sickness will tell you, having your eyes fixed on a book a few inches away will only exacerbate the mismatch between what your eyes are seeing and what your body and inner ear are feeling. Hence, if you read, you are almost certainly going to feel worse than you will if you keep your eyes fixed on the horizon outside the plane.
On most planes, there will be an air vent above your head so make sure you use it. Having a flow of air on your face and head will help to keep you cool and refreshed to at least a certain degree. Whilst the air flow is certainly not likely to be sea-breeze fresh, it can help mitigate the stuffiness and often unpleasantly warm atmosphere on-board.
Try to keep away from others who are suffering airsickness if possible as hearing others chatting about their sickness problems or even worse, seeing someone being sick is certainly not going to help you feel any better.
Homoeopathic treatments for airsickness
There are various homoeopathic treatments for motion sickness that you might consider using as an alternative to the medical drugs highlighted earlier.
The most common of these homoeopathic treatments are as follows:
Cocculus Indicus: This is probably the most common homoeopathic remedy for motion sickness, especially for sufferers who experience nausea which gets worse when they see or smell food. It is common for Cocculus to be given to travelers who commonly feel weak and experience a hollow or empty feeling in their stomach as a result of suffering airsickness. This is a remedy that is also very well suited to people whose condition is made worse by feeling cold, from moving about or from a lack of sleep.
Rhus Toxicodendron: Is probably better known by the more common name poison ivy but fortunately, in very small doses, it is not going to kill you! However, what it can do for anyone whose airsickness usually exhibits itself through nausea and vomiting (whilst there is also a lack of appetite at the same time) is help calm their condition down.
Often people who suffer these kinds of symptoms will feel weak and lightheaded because there is a distinct lack of nutrition inside them, so they might feel dizzy when standing. Sometime this feeling will be accompanied by an intense headache at the front of the head and your scalp might feel painfully sensitive to the touch as well.
Tabacum: This solution would be a suitable homoeopathic remedy for anyone whose airsickness is most commonly identified by them feeling nauseous and faint, with a green tinge or extremely pale color to their skin.
Most commonly, these obvious symptoms would be accompanied by a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach and possibly a severe headache that feels as if there is a very tight band wrapped around the head.
A combination: Sometimes, a homeopath is more likely to recommend a combination of several homoeopathic remedies rather than just one, mainly because people’s airsickness does not fit any of the specific category descriptions precisely.
A relatively common combination would for example be a mixture of Cocculus Indicus, Tabacum and Petroleum, although if your homoeopath chooses to recommend only one substance to deal with airsickness, it is likely to be Cocculus.
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